Former Secretary of Energy and Texas Governor Rick Perry promoted “nuculer” compact fusion reactors as the answer to future US power problems like those hitting Texas during a massive winter snowstorm.
The only problem: there is no such working device as a compact nuclear fusion reactors. It’s a theoretical power source. Even Lockheed’s famed Skunk Works hasn’t gotten one to work yet.
https://youtu.be/n_1Cf0SfgIc
Perhaps the best part happened later in the interview.
Dallas County (Texas) Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, the equivalent of a county manager and the highest county officer, posted a Facebook announcement to tell residents that they should consider taking in neighbors who still did not have power due to a major winter storm that swept through the area.
Thousands of residents in the Dallas area have been without power since early Monday morning when the private company responsible for operating the power grid in Texas, Oncor, initiated rolling blackouts. The blackouts were only supposed to be for 45 minutes, but some have been without power since they started, and news reports detail people saying the temperatures in their homes have plummeted to 30 degrees or lower.
“Oncor informs me that the attempts to restart the rolling blackouts from affected neighborhoods to those that are currently with power have been unsuccessful due to the status of the grid,” Jenkins posted. “If you have power, please consider taking in those without power before dark.”
Reuters reports that President Joe Biden approved a request for a federal emergency declaration for the state of Texas, which was hit by a massive and unusual winter storm on Sunday. This is interesting because the Governor Greg Abbott isn’t a fan of Biden, the Lieutenant Governor is a crazy asshole who thinks Biden is an illegitimate President, the junior Senator is a Canadian-born cuck who led repeated attempts to have Biden’s election overturned, and fifteen of its House members – including the crazy asshole with one eye and the pill popping former White House doctor – also joined in said efforts to object. Also the state attorney general sued to have the election overturned in the Supreme Court. Oh and the chairman of the Texas Republican Party wanted the state to secede from the United States of America when the court rejected that lawsuit.
Then there was that incident with the campaign bus.
And still after all that, President Joe Biden wants to help Texans who are suffering because of dangerous icy conditions in the state, causing traffic accidents and electricity blackouts. The majority of the state does not like him at all, and yet Biden is using his powers to deploy the resources of the federal government to help clean up the mess and get Texas’s economy back up on its feet. True, 5,259,126 Texans did vote for Biden, but that did nothing to help him in the electoral college. They probably would’ve been more help if they had all each just bought four or five Biden-Harris bumper stickers and slapped them on road signs in their neighborhoods. Would’ve raised a lot of money for his campaign, but it’s not like they needed much more given the billion plus that was raised in 2020. Really not much to be gained here politically ahead of elections in 2022 and 2024, even with avoiding collateral damage inflicted on Texas Democratic voters and all.
Maybe the Democrat base isn’t as excited by deliberate neglect of regions of the country where the locals are opposed politically to the President and his policies. Dem voters might not get the joke if Biden tells Greg Abbott about Finland’s snow shoveling methods. Then again it could just be that Biden meant what he said in his inauguration speech – that he was going to be a President for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not, in good times and in bad.
Former Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for the Senate in 2022 in a campaign in which he will take on incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Perdue lost his reelection bid to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a January 5th runoff. Incumbent Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Republican Johnny Isakson by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, lost her campaign to Warnock in the same runoff election.
The New York Times published the letter that Rep Adam Kinzinger’s cousins mailed him on January 8th, two days after the Capitol riot and when Kinzinger began calling for Trump’s removal from office. Here’s the letter transcribed by National Zero, as verbatim as possible:
Jan. 8, 2021
Adam,
Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God! We were once so proud of your accomplishments! Instead, you go against your Christian principals and join the “Devil’s army” (Democrats and the fake news media). How do you call yourself a Christian when you join the “devils army” believing in abortion! We thought you were “smart” enough to see how the left is brainwashing so “so called good people” including yourself and many other GOP members. You have even fallen for their socialism ideals!
Despite five deaths and hours of video footage showing domestic terrorists using everything from flag poles to baseball bats as weapons, Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on a radio show Monday that he doubted an “armed insurrection” happened January 6th.
Raw Story reports that Johnson appeared on The Jay Weber Show broadcast on WISN 1130 AM, a conservative talk radio station in Milwaukee, that the coup attempt would never have been undertaken by Trump supporters, despite evidence that people moved from the Trump speech at the Ellipse to the Capitol; that people waved Trump flags; and that many of those arrested have stated they acted at the instruction of Donald Trump.
“The group of people who supported Trump,” Johnson said, “the hundreds of thousands of people who attend those Trump rallies — those are people that love this country. That never would have done what happened on Jan. 6, which is why I was not concerned, OK? That is a group of people that love freedom. That is a group of people that we need to unify and keep on our side. Listen, I’ve never defended everything Trump does. He’s a New York street fighter. We’re Wisconsin nice. Totally different types of attitude.”
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he may have to get directly involved in Republican Party Senate primaries to ensure GOP voters elect candidates that have a chance of winning the general election, not extremists.
McConnell said the key to Republicans retaking the Senate in 2022 will be “getting candidates who can actually win in November. That may or may not involve trying to affect the outcome of the primaries.”
Republicans hold 20 of the 34 Senate seats that will be up for election in the 2022 midterms. A number of those seats are held by more moderate members of the GOP, including one by Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted to convict Donald Trump during this impeachment trial. Four others, in Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio, will not have an incumbent because the Republicans holding those seats are retiring.
Associated Press: “Dr. Anthony Fauci has won the $1 million Dan David Prize for ‘defending science’ and advocating for vaccines now being administered worldwide to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Israel-based Dan David Foundation on Monday named President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser as the winner of one of three prizes. It said he had earned the recognition over a lifetime of leadership on HIV research and AIDS relief, as well as his advocacy for the vaccines against COVID-19.
“In its statement, the private foundation did not mention former President Donald Trump, who undermined Fauci’s follow-the-science approach to the pandemic. But it credited Fauci with ‘courageously defending science in the face of uninformed opposition during the challenging COVID crisis.'”
The French government named a group of hackers linked to the Russian government and its intelligence service as responsible for cyberattacks on a number of French businesses, including Airbus, Air France and utility company Électricité de France, Politico reports.
The systems breach was hidden in a software package by French supplier Centreon and used the same strategy of the SolarWinds cyberintrusion that struck American companies. The French government identified the hacker group Sandworm, known as Unit 74455, of the Russian GRU.
The French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said the attack “bears several similarities with previous campaigns attributed to the intrusion set named Sandworm,” which “is known to lead consequent intrusion campaigns before focusing on specific targets that fits its strategic interests within the victims pool.”
In a letter to her House colleagues, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that she’ll seek to set up an “independent 9/11-type Commission” to investigate the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, according to Sahil Kapur of NBC News.
The Commision will “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6th, 2021 domestic terrorist attack on the United States Capitol Complex… and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State and local law enforcement in the National Capitol Region.”
Pelosi also noted that retired general Russel Honore continues to investigate ways to improve security in the Capitol after the lapses that led to insurrectionists violently gaining access to the building.
In backstage remarks to Axios reporter Mike Allen after addressing a conference of African-American mayors, Vice President Kamala Harris said that the hardest part of fighting the coronavirus pandemic came when the Biden Administration first took office.
“There was no stockpile [of vaccines],” Harris said. “There was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations, [the federal government was] leaving it to the states and local leaders to try and figure it out.”
The McDonald’s corporate Twitter account tweeted a disconcerting missive Monday afternoon, indicating that a mysterious plot culminating on Wednesday, February 24th was underway.
i immediately regret this😅
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 15, 2021
It is unknown at this point what precisely will occur on this date, however the most likely explanation is that FEMA will mobilize and intern Americans at McDonald’s locations, forcing them to consume Big Macs and Filet-o-Fish sandwiches for sustenance. Or the Rothschild space lasers will be activated to wipe all Burger King, Wendy’s, Hardees/Carl’s Jr, Checkers/Rally’s, and In-and-Out Burger locations off the map, leaving McDonald’s as the sole national fast food burger chain. National Zero will continue updating readers on this story as it develops.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has issued a protective order regarding information to be made available to the lawyers of Rochester, New York Proud Boys member Dominic “Spaz” Pezzola, who was arrested for his part in the January 6th domestic terrorist attack at the Capitol.
The order mandates that neither defense counsel nor the defendant can publicly release information that must be legally provided to the defendant so that he can develop his legal strategy for court. The order specifies that information regarding confidential informants; sources and methods for collecting sensitive information; and information that will be used in other litigation cannot be disclosed. It also protects the identify and personal information of persons involved in the case.
The requirement is not unusual in cases where multiple defendants are being tried separately for the same or similar crimes stemming from the same incident. However, given Pezzola’s association with the Proud Boys, the order raises questions about if the FBI had an informant with the group prior to the January 6th attack. Enrique Tarrio, the purported leader of the Proud Boys was reported to have been a law enforcement informant after his 2012 arrest.
Washington Post: “Like many Trump supporters, conservative donor Fred Eshelman awoke the day after the presidential election with the suspicion that something wasn’t right. His candidate’s apparent lead in key battleground states had evaporated overnight. The next day, the North Carolina financier and his advisers reached out to a small conservative nonprofit group in Texas that was seeking to expose voter fraud. Over the next 12 days, Eshelman came to regret his donation and to doubt conspiracy theories of rampant illegal voting, according to court records and interviews. Now, he wants his money back. The story behind the Eshelman donation – detailed in previously unreported court filings and exclusive interviews with those involved – provides new insights into the frenetic days after the election, when baseless claims led donors to give hundreds of millions of dollars to reverse President Biden’s victory.”
“Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party collected $255 million in two months, saying the money would support legal challenges to an election marred by fraud. Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress also raised money off those false allegations, as did pro-Trump lawyers seeking to overturn the election results – and even some of their witnesses. True the Vote was one of several conservative ‘election integrity’ groups that sought to press the case in court. Though its lawsuits drew less attention than those brought by the Trump campaign, True the Vote nonetheless sought to raise more than $7 million for its investigation of the 2020 election. Documents that have surfaced in Eshelman’s litigation, along with interviews, show how True the Vote’s private assurances that it was on the cusp of revealing illegal election schemes repeatedly fizzled as the group’s focus shifted from one allegation to the next. The nonprofit sought to coordinate its efforts with a coalition of Trump’s allies, including Trump attorney Jay Sekulow and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), the documents show.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans have been canceled. But fear not, Zeros! Here are ten ways you can have the exact same experience safely in your own home.
And the Number One way to celebrate a virtual Mardi Gras is…
Since taking office nearly a month ago, President Joe Biden has gained a double-digit net job approval rating across all major polls, a 180-degree turnaround from his predecessor. Just 27 days into his first term, Biden enjoys a 17-point net approval, compared to Donald Trump’s -5.6% job approval (or a 5.6% job disapproval).
“South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem used a state airplane to shuttle her around the country to right-wing political events, racking up huge bills on the taxpayer dime as the GOP darling traveled to events hosted by, among others, the National Rifle Association, Turning Point USA, and a Las Vegas confab put on by the Republican Jewish Coalition. From a legal perspective, wrongful use of the plane goes well beyond an ethics violation, as state-owned aircraft are only supposed to be used for official state business. Fines for improper travel can reach 10 times the cost of the flight.”
“‘Governor Noem follows the law when weighing whether it is appropriate to use state aircraft,’ Noem’s spokesman told Raw Story in an email. ‘One of Governor Noem’s primary roles as Governor is to be South Dakota’s top ambassador to the rest of the nation. She has made this a big part of her governorship, advertising to attract businesses to our state, to drive tourism to our state, and to appeal to particular industries.’ Noem, the costs of whose taxpayer-funded security detail – which tailed her as she traveled throughout the U.S. to campaign for former President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful reelection – are already under scrutiny by state legislators, last month requested $5 million to upgrade South Dakota’s aircraft fleet. Earlier this month, Noem responded to a Twitter post about a food bank in a Texas school by saying, ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch.’ However, as The Daily Beast reported at the time, Noem isn’t averse to receiving handouts when it benefits her: Between 1995 and 2020, the governor’s family-owned ranch collected USDA farm subsidies totaling more than $4.2 million” – Daily Beast.
Fox News: “Top Republicans on several committees are demanding answers from Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding security decisions made leading up to and on the day of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. House Administration Committee Ranking Member Rodney Davis, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes sent a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif., on Monday, saying that ‘many important questions’ about her ‘responsibility for the security’ of the Capitol on Jan. 6 ‘remain unanswered.'”
“Davis, Jordan, Comer and Nunes pointed to claims made by former Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund, that he, on Jan. 4, approached the sergeants at arms to request the assistance of the National Guard. Sund, in a letter to Pelosi last month, the former Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he was concerned about ‘the optics’ and didn’t feel the ‘intelligence supported it.’ ‘As you are aware, the Speaker of the House is not only the leader of the majority party, but also has enormous institutional responsibilities,’ they wrote. ‘The Speaker is responsible for all operational decisions made within the House.’ Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul has been called out for falsely claiming that he stood and applauded Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman after the heroic officer was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal during the Friday’s Senate session.
Paul tweeted “There is no bigger supporter of the Capitol Police than me. They saved our lives on the ball field. Yesterday I stood and cheered and clapped as we awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to Officer Goodman. Any deceptive media edits are from lying scum bags.” Video, however shows a different story.
https://youtu.be/UKnbrfJqjko
Paul is clearly seen rising from his seat long after his Senate colleagues, who are already standing in honor of Goodman. Paul never claps, and he rushes to take his seat as the applause fades.
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